September 17, 2014 - Since the retirement of the
Space Shuttle in 2011, NASA has been dependent
on the Russian
spacecraft,
Soyuz for astronaut space travel to the
International Space Station (ISS).

NASA's Office Of Inspector General reported that
the price Russia charged per astronaut went
from $22 million in 2006 to $55.6 million in
2014 per astronaut.

In 2015, the inflated ticket prices will jump to
$55.6 to $60 million. In April 2013, NASA signed
a deal with Russia that would provide space
travel for six astronauts between 2016 through
June 2017 at a price tag of $424 million, that
$71 million per seat.

The Office Of Inspector General's
report stated
"Reliance on the Soyuz limits the amount of
research conducted on the ISS because the Soyuz
does not have the capacity to support the
maximum number of crew members that can inhabit
the Station. NASA and its partners designed the
ISS to support seven crew members.

"However, the Soyuz has a three-person capacity;
therefore, only six crew members can safely be
aboard the ISS at any time to allow for
evacuation in case of an emergency (given that
two Soyuz capsules are docked to the ISS at all
times to serve as “escape vehicles.”) According
to the ISS Program Office, a seventh crew member
could potentially add about 33 hours per week to
the current amount of crew time devoted to
research – a 94 percent increase.

NASA is putting an end to its reliance on the
Russian
spacecraft,
Soyuz. U.S. astronauts once again will travel to and
from the International Space Station from the United States on American spacecraft
under groundbreaking contracts NASA announced
Tuesday.

The agency unveiled its selection of Boeing and
SpaceX to transport
U.S. crews to and from the
space station using their CST-100 and Crew
Dragon spacecraft, respectively, with a goal of
ending the nation’s sole reliance on Russia in 2017.

"From day one, the Obama Administration made clear that
the greatest nation on Earth should not be dependent on
other nations to get into space," NASA Administrator
Charlie Bolden said at the agency's KennedySpaceCenter in Florida.

"Thanks to the leadership of President Obama, the hard
work of our NASA and industry teams, and support from
Congress, today we are one step closer to launching our
astronauts from U.S.
soil on American spacecraft and ending the nation’s sole
reliance on Russia by 2017.
Turning over low-Earth orbit transportation to private
industry will also allow NASA to focus on an even more
ambitious mission, sending humans to Mars."

These Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap)
contracts are designed to complete the NASA
certification for human space transportation systems
capable of carrying people into orbit. Once
certification is complete, NASA plans to use these
systems to ferry astronauts to the International Space
Station and return them safely to Earth.

The companies selected to provide this transportation
capability and the maximum potential value of their
FAR-based firm fixed-price contracts are:

The contracts include at least one crewed flight test
per company with at least one NASA astronaut aboard to
verify the fully integrated rocket and spacecraft system
can launch, maneuver in orbit, and dock to the space
station, as well as validate all its systems perform as
expected.

Once each company’s test program has been completed
successfully and its system achieves NASA certification,
each contractor will conduct at least two, and as many
as six, crewed missions to the space station. These
spacecraft also will serve as a lifeboat for astronauts
aboard the station.

NASA's Commercial Crew Program will implement this
capability as a public-private partnership with the
American aerospace companies. NASA's expert team of
engineers and spaceflight specialists is facilitating
and certifying the development work of industry partners
to ensure new spacecraft are safe and reliable.

The
U.S.
missions to the International Space Station following
certification will allow the station's current crew of
six to grow, enabling the crew to conduct more research
aboard the unique microgravity laboratory.

The companies will own and operate the crew
transportation systems and be able to sell human space
transportation services to other customers in addition
to NASA, thereby reducing the costs for all customers.

"By encouraging private companies to handle launches
to low-Earth orbit -- a region NASA's been visiting
since 1962 -- the nation's space agency can focus on
getting the most research and experience out of
America's investment in the International Space
Station. NASA also can focus on building spacecraft
and rockets for deep space missions, including
flights to Mars."